Bonnie

My son will be choosing an Australian University to do a semester abroad (from Canada). The cities he can choose from are Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney or Victoria since those are where the affiliated universities are. As a 20 year-old, which area of Australia do you think he would enjoy the most to be based? He is currently attending university in a smaller Ontario town by choice and likes the atmosphere there.

john

What subject area is he studying in?<BR><BR>I doubt if he is going to find a college town like London ontario and he is bound to pick up a lot of bad aussie habits (does he drink beer?).<BR><BR>There are a lot of similar posts to this on the www.lonelyplanet.com thorn tree message board for australia.

doobah

melbourne would be nice... not that quiet not that noisy either...

xxx

My daughter is studying at The University Of New South Wales in Sydney. They found her an internship. Helped with housing and her class schedule. She is having the time of her life and raves about Sydney.

Lucy

Which particular Uni in Sydney is the affiliation with as that could have some bearing on the response?

Bonnie

He is studying Economics... but not in London, Ontario. Choices are U of Canberra, U of Adelaide, Edith Cowan U. & Curtin U. in Perth, U. of Sydney, LaTrobe U. in Victoria. I really appreciate the feedback.

Lucy

Ah hah! Definitely Sydney then as the Uni of Sydney is a nice old sandstone Uni very close to the city & has a great reputation. The only factor possibly going against choosing Sydney is that cost of living will be higher than elsewhere...but I happen to think its worth it!!

john

Of course the best university in australia is Uni NSW ....my alma mater.<BR><BR>I think you would be well served to post on the lonely planet board...you will get responses from actual students..much more relevant than the middle-aged, middle class opinions you will get here.<BR><BR>Of the unis you mentioned adelaide and sydney stand out on reputation.The others have the cynical,perhaps undeserved reputation of being "mickey mouse" converted colleges.<BR><BR>It pains me to say it because sydney is a rival of unsw..but uni of sydney may be your best bet on academic reputation.There were some frictions in the ecomonmics dept there but that was quite a while ago.

Lucy

Hey speak for yourself John, I'm still in my 20's!! <BR>Alas one of Bonnies choices wasn't my old Uni (Uni of Qld) which I'd be pushing if it was an option!!

john

yes Lucy, St Lucia is a very pleasant campus and the journey to the uni via river cat is a great way to get there.

margi

Hello Bonnie, I have a bias towards Adelaide as it's my home town. Compared to the other cities mentioned Adelaide would be smaller. My husband and I relocated to Darwin, Northern Territory, 4 years ago but we still have a house and a 26 year old daughter in Adelaide. Four years ago she shared the house with overseas uni students from the USA and Denmark and they all got on exremely well and they still keep in touch with each other. Kate stayed in Denmark with one of the students on an overseas trip. After their studies three of them toured Australia and stayed with us in Darwin en route. There are 3 universities in Adelaide, Flinders University; Adelaide University and University of South Australia and they all have excellent reputations, so I suppose it depends on what subjects your son is interested in. Our daughter is sharing the house with another young couple, there is an extra bedroom and I'm not even sure if they are looking for an extra tenant but the house is very comfortable, within walking distance of the beach and bus and train. As a mother of two daughters who both live a long way away, one lives in London, I understand what it's like to be apart from them, so please feel free to ask any questions by email, and if I can set your mind at rest, I'd be happy to do so.

Damian

Victoria University in Melbourne is a progressive and innovative university, with smaller classes than the others. It has a student village nearby.

sally

My daughter is currently studying at UNSW and is having the most amazing experience. She finds the classes stimulating and challenging(from UPENN in Philadelphia-Ivy League)and loves the weekend traveling. She shares an apt. w/ 3 friends at $400AU/month and finds the cost of living much less expensive than Phila--

susan

Bonnie, Definitely send your son to Sydney. I just returned from there and Perth. So much to do in Sydney and you yourself would love to visit there. I'm a mom of University students and my vote is Sydney. I know he will love it.